Did I mentioned getting the blue screen of death about a week or two ago? Right, with only about a week and a half left of classes, plus finals, my laptop computer died. Well, it is possible it can be revived, but I will never trust it again, certainly not for finals. Maybe for note taking that I can back-up everyday during bar review.
I have been using Wife's laptop (Thank you, honey!) that we bought as a back-up in my second year...or was it my third?...when I was having power cord issues with mine. It's been good to have, and Wife enjoys it for portable digital scrap booking and surfing in the backyard on warm summer days. Hence the reason she wants her laptop back soon - summer is nearly here!
Just in case I need to get a new one, we've looked around a bit. A person can get a decent laptop these days for $500-600. Those I've been are bulkier that I would like though. I did some research and found what is undoubtedly the best of the netbooks. Netbook - yes - that is what I wrote. They are those adorably cute little computers meant mainly for surfing and checking email. I found a version though that can handle the MS Office apps, and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive. I even found someone using it for college note taking. Perfect, right?
The winner is the Samsung NC-10. It can be found on sale for about $400, has a 93% normal size keyboard (some specs I've seen say 95%), with all the keys in the right place. Key placement is apparently a big problem with many netbooks. It is fast, apparently reliable, and the resolution is said to be excellent.
Due to size, there is no CD drive - so an external is necessary, or one can rely on a flash drive to transfer to and from a main computer. I'm told that is how I could load Word and PowerPoint, though I've not tried such a stunt.
At this point, we'll hope once finals are over I can try an XP repair or maybe just zap the hard drive and start over, so I can keep my old laptop. Still, the cute little Samsung is calling my name. It comes in blue. :) On the other hand, maybe if I wait a year or so, I could buy a lightweight but very powerful real laptop and that might be a better purchase in the long run. Ultimately, it depends on what I would want to use it for. For what I've done on my laptop for the last four years, other than burning CDs during finals, the NC-10 would be just fine.
Who knows? Maybe there will be graduation money in my future for just such a purchase!
1 comment:
It was in your second year. I remember well because I took it to Seattle with me when the kids and I were there for 5 weeks at the end of year 2.
Wouldn't it make a great graduation present for your family to purchase? And by family I mean your mom, sisters, nieces and nephews. Or heck - my side even. I'm not picky. Hee hee. :)
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